Belated

I knew it was Archibald Menzies' birthday yesterday, but I ran out of time to say so. I didn't know, however, that among the plants named after this scientific explorer of the west coast is a type of kelp. There's a little article (and pictures) on that here, at a thoroughly fascinating blog that concentrates on the natural history of a single location on the California coast. The variety shown in this blog coupled with the bizarre antics of the peacock spider that I mentioned last post are enough to confirm in anyone (well, me, anyway) a likely incurable case of natural history; so much amazement can be found in such a small area, be it a single beach or a single bush.

Not So Creepy

If you are 100% sure you don't want to look at jumping spiders, then don't look at this:
Catalyst: Peacock Spider - ABC TV Science
If you are only 99.9% sure. . .take a peek. It's incredible (and by "incredible," I mean that my first reaction was: "Somebody just made all that up!")